Let Go
by Michelle92
Summary: She needs some help to let go of a certain red head. And who better than the guy who's always hated her? HermioneXDraco
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**A/N:** Right now the plot isn't finalized yet. I'm just going with the flow. I'd just take my own sweet time to reach the end, and I'm not quite sure what The End is. But anyway, enjoy! (I might convert to a Harry/Draco shipper, so, who knows?)

Oh and Harry Potter belongs to me. Right. We all know that's not true, so what's the point of saying that it doesn't belongs to me?

* * *

She got up rather painfully in the morning. 

Her usual morning routine. She dragged herself to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, combed her hair… it was like some kind of routine that she couldn't erase from her mind. She wondered if her life was destined to be this routine, this predictable, this boring forever.

She walked to the kitchen, and unconsciously made two cups of tea. As she was pouring in the sugar, she suddenly stopped. An image of Ron's dead body came into her mind.

She dropped the sugar on the floor, and hastily poured away the second cup of tea, while trying to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes.

Every morning she makes this mistake.

Hermione used Apparition to go to work. She ended up a few hundred meters from her workplace. Cursing her apparition and determinedly ignoring her tears again, she started to work. It was no use Apparating. She would probably end up at home.

Somewhere between her workplace and that few hundred meters, Draco Malfoy was walking alone, lost in thoughts. They met soon after.

"Hermione." Draco said in some surprise. Hermione ignored him. Draco noticed she looked like she had been crying.

Hermione couldn't remember when Malfoy had renewed the use of her first name. Despite her teary mood she felt some surprise. Malfoy had been calling her Granger or Mudblood for as long as she could remember.

She decided to reply. "Malfoy," she answered curtly.

Hermione and Draco continued their walk in silence.

They reached Hermione's workplace. It turned out to be Draco's new workplace as well.

The ride up in the lift was silent as well.

Hermione was thinking about what Ron. But no matter what she couldn't allow herself to miss him. Even though she had learned that missing someone was not by choice. She felt a pang somewhere in her heart and a wave of emotion sweep over her.

"Hermione?" Draco's voice rang into her thoughts. She snapped out of her daze. She had reached her floor. And so had Draco.

Suddenly a thought went through her mind. "You wouldn't be the person I'm interviewing for the new position, would you?" She asked. Draco smiled.

"Well, actually, yes," he said and gestured for Hermione to step out of the lift first. Hermione couldn't help it. She smiled, for the first time in days, at the irony at it all.

"Hey," Ginny greeted Hermione quietly. Hermione nodded and hunted around for something to say. She hadn't seen Ginny been like this before, until the war came and took Ron and Bill away.

_Ron._

Hermione stared at Ginny's red hair.

Draco cleared his throat.

Hermione snapped out of her daze again. "Er, hey, Ginny," she said. Ginny didn't seem to hear her. Hermione swallowed, then nodded to Draco. "Er, my office is this way, follow me," she said quietly.

Draco followed Hermione and tried to pretend that he wasn't observing her. The scene he had seen earlier on was one that he had never seen, or even envisioned, before. He felt a stab of guilt. He hadn't thought about his father in months - he simply didn't wish to. And now he had been reminded by Ginny, by Hermione.

Hermione's office was well-furnished but it lacked something. Even Draco, who wasn't exactly the greatest at designing, thought it lacked something. It lacked a rather homely feel, he thought. He had completely no idea that a homely feel was completely opposite of what Hermione had in mind.

_Ron._

The same image flooded into her mind again. It wasn't right of her to think of Ron at a moment like this, when she was at work. It was just not allowed. She was Hermione, after all. She just did not mix work with her personal life. And Ron _was_ her personal life.

"Hermione?" Draco said softly. Hermione stared at him again. It was completely out of character for him to call her by her first name. And she felt ashamed for letting him catch her daydreaming two times so far. And it was only nine. _Hermione didn't daydream._

"Draco?" Hermione inquired.

"Y-Yeah?" Draco replied. He had the feeling he was going to get it for interrupting whatever she was thinking of. _Probably Ron._

"Do you really want this job?" Hermione resisted the urge to smile.

"Y-Yeah," Draco stuttered again. _Shit._

"Then from now onwards, you'd call me Granger."

Draco expressed how he felt with a single word. "Huh?"

"And I'm your new boss, so you listen to everything I say," Hermione replied.

Draco broke out into a smile. Hermione smiled back.

_It was the beginning of something that resembled a friendship. Between the most impossible two people ever._

_

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_

**Janettelle:** HELLO! My friend, Michelle's computer is down so I've helped to upload and edit the first five chapters. SO if you do notice anything weird, it's probably due to the difference in our writing styles.

Now be nice and review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two

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**

Hermione wandered around her office. It was only moments after she had employed Draco and she knew, moments before Ginny Weasley would come in.

It happened within a matter of seconds.

Ginny came in without bothering to knock. Her eyes were flashing. "Hermione," she said dangerously. "There was me, thinking you were in love with my brother! How foolish I was!" she said maliciously. Hermione bit her lip.

"Ginny, listen to me –" Ginny cut her off. "I am not going to listen to you," she said. "I thought you were my friend, and I thought you loved Ron! How can you – how can you employ the person whose father was responsible for all the pain we went through?" Ginny sputtered out.

Hermione remained silent. She was afraid to speak, afraid to admit her weakness_. Her weakness for Draco?_

Ginny cast a hurt and angry look at Hermione before storming out of the room. She slammed the door. Everybody outside glanced at the pair.

Hermione sat down and sighed. She was afraid of even admitting it to herself. But she did have a weakness for Draco. She knew deep down in her heart that Draco was a good man. He only had the misfortune of being born into the wrong family, and brought up with the wrong values. And after the war, it was only worse. Everything Draco had been brought up to believe in had been proved false. He was forced to fit in with a group of people that he had been raised to hate.

She leaned back in her chair. She loved Ron, she told herself, but was there any harm in employing Draco? After all, he had completely nothing to do with Ron's death, she told herself firmly. Almost completely nothing. Ginny's voice came back to haunt her. He just had happened to be the son of the very man who had single-handedly killed Ron and Bill Weasley. And Ginny happened to be the type who carried grudges all the way to distant relatives of anyone who did evil. _Was she?_

Images of the war flooded back to her again. It was a sad war, even though the Light side had won. But the war had taken away many innocent victims along with Voldemort. It was like some kind of cruel punishment, Hermione thought and chuckled.

No war is ever good. And there is no such thing as fighting for peace, she thought sadly.

Draco tried hard to concentrate on his work, but he couldn't. Earlier on he had witnessed the row between Ginny and Hermione with a pang of guilt in his conscience. They must be fighting about me, he thought. He himself had wondered why Hermione had agreed to employ him. Lucius Malfoy's face had swam into Draco's thoughts.

Up till now, he had wondered if he had made the right choice.

Before the war was over, Draco had gone over to the Light side. He could not bear the guilt of belonging to the side that had killed one of the greatest wizards on earth. Draco had a quarrel with his father the night before he went. He remembered it clearly. And the day after, the war ended and his father had been taken to Azkaban. He hadn't seen his father since.

Draco had sworn to his father, on the night they had the fight, that he will never again call Lucius 'Father'. Again, he wondered if he had made the right choice. He missed his father badly – no matter what his father did before.

Draco shook himself from his thoughts and looked up. There, in her office, was Hermione. She was looking out from her window. She looked lost. _Probably thinking of Ron._ The guilt came again.

Draco wasn't wrong.

Hermione stared out of the window listlessly. Despite what Ginny had said earlier on, she missed Ron so badly. She just didn't want to admit it.

Ron.

A tear rolled down her cheeks. Hermione brushed away the tear.

She couldn't remember what happened during the war. There were only memories of Ron – flying on his broomstick, the two of them on a date to watch the Chudley Cannons, the orange Chudley Cannon gear that had clashed horribly with his hair, the day he had finally plucked up the courage to say "I Love You", the day they had made love to each other all night, the day when Ron came back all muddy and grumpy because he had lost a Quidditch match to Harry – all the memories came flooding back into her mind. She stared out of the window and realized that everything was becoming blurry. There must be fog, she thought in some surprise.

It was only later when she realized that she was crying.

Draco lifted his head up again. He knocked over his coffee.

There was a general murmuring throughout the office as he approached, with a slight smile on his face.

Draco, in the meantime, tried making himself inconspicuous. Draco even wondered if he had time to Transfigure himself into a potted plant when he noticed Draco.

His face fell. But he continued determinedly to his destination.

Draco's heart fell as well. He hadn't expected a warm greeting. But he didn't expect to be ignored.

There was a knock on Hermione's door.

Hermione hurriedly brushed away the tears. She muttered a spell that automatically redid her makeup. _Redodnis._

"Come in!" she called, her voice quavering slightly. The door opened and he came in.

* * *

**JE:** Ooh, who's the 'him'? Kekeke. 

Review and give yourself a pat on the back for doing a good deed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**A/N:** A rather short chapter. The writing isn't particularly spectacular here either. Well… mainly because I'm not at all sure how to portray Harry after Ron's death. But enjoy anyway.

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Harry stood at the door, smiling slightly at Hermione. Hermione couldn't help it. She threw herself into Harry's arms. Harry chuckled slightly and hugged her. 

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked, beaming. Harry shrugged. "Not much… I'm still doing my training," he said. Harry was training to be an Auror.

"But it's you I haven't seen for awhile," Harry suddenly said seriously. Hermione said nothing. Harry took her by the shoulders. "How are you coping?"

Hermione swallowed. Harry understood perfectly. Then he frowned. "And what is Malfoy doing here? Did he pull rank to get this Ministry job?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. She was unable to reply. She couldn't understand why everybody thought Draco had resorted to underhanded means to get a job.

Ginny Weasley entered the room for the second time in the day. "No, Harry," Ginny said. "She employed him. Of her own accord."

Harry's eyes widened. "Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry asked quietly. He was shaking with fury. "This is _MALFOY_, Hermione. Malfoy, whose father killed Ron and Bill," Harry shouted.

Hermione shook her head. "He has nothing to do with Ron or Bill's death!" she cried tearfully. "He came over to the Light side –"

Harry shook his head forcefully. "Nobody even knows if that's true," he said quietly. "Don't forget that he told Lucius about Ron," he said.

Hermione felt something quicken. It felt like her heartbeat. "About Ron? What about Ron?" she asked, afraid to know the answer.

This time, it was Ginny who replied. "Draco told Lucius that Ron was terrified of spiders," she answered without looking Hermione in the eye. "That was how Ron got killed. Lucius tricked Acromantula into attacking Ron. He was afraid and couldn't defend himself in time."

Hermione stared at the pair in horror. Harry and Ginny looked slightly angry, but their faces had softened. "I didn't know that," Hermione whispered to herself. She could just imagine Ron's terrified face when he was facing the Acromantula. Ron hated spiders. And Lucius used spiders. What a low-down tactic, she thought angrily. Why haven't I bothered to ask how Ron died before? An image of Ron's mangled body came into her mind. _Why?_

Harry strode to where Hermione was shaking and put an arm around her. The three of them didn't know that they were being watched by over ten employees outside, one whom was crying silently.

_I'm sorry._ The tears continued to flow down Draco's cheeks.

Nobody disagreed with the fact that Hermione had changed drastically after the war. She had went from a calm know-it-all with an optimistic attitude to someone who was afraid of the dark, and someone who couldn't trust anybody.

The new Hermione was crying silently at her desk now.

It was already dusk. Throughout the entire day she had not touched her pile of work, nor eaten anything at all. The entire day she had been thinking of Ron and how he died.

Draco Malfoy who had avoided Hermione the entire day, or tried his best to, found himself standing outside Hermione's office. He was once again, on the outside looking in. He wished so badly that he could do something to help ease away her tears, or just find some way to comfort her and make her feel better. But the truth was he couldn't. A few minutes later he left the office, hating his father, hating Lord Voldemort, hating himself.

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**JE:** Well, she did warn you about Harry being OOC, though I think he's portrayed just fine.

Review, or it will hurt my friend's feelings.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**A/N:** Draco confronts Hermione and gets rejected. Poor Draco.  
_wails.  
_But I had to do this. Lol. I'm not yet a Harry/Draco shipper. Also, Harry doesn't appear to be with Ginny – yet. So there's still a chance for a Harry/Draco pairing!

* * *

"Hermione." 

Hermione stirred. "Go away," she muttered.

"Hermione." The persistent voice didn't go away as she had requested.

Hermione woke up and saw Draco Malfoy staring back into her face. She was shocked to see the person she had decided to hate earlier that day confronting her so soon.

"What?" she snapped. Draco cringed and swallowed.

"I bought some food for you." He said nervously and put a pack of Chocolate Frogs on the table. He was about to leave when he realized that Hermione hadn't eaten anything the entire day. He ought to know, he had watched her cry for the entire day. And so he had ran out to buy the first pack of Chocolate Frogs he could find.

The tears welled up in Hermione's eyes again. Ron had given her Chocolate Frogs for her birthday the last year. She had thrown a tantrum at him because she wanted flowers. And Ron had been the victim of her temper that day.

"Just go away and leave me alone," Hermione said and resisted the urge to burst into tears.

Draco left. Not because he didn't care about her, but because he didn't know how to care for her.

When Hermione was done crying, she decided to Apparate home. This time she did it with a clear mind and just the right amount of Determination. She felt a slight pang as she remembered the Apparating lessons she had taken with Ron in their sixth year. But this time she Apparated and landed right in the middle of her apartment. She smiled slightly. This was more like the old Hermione.

Hermione walked slowly to her mirror and stared at her reflection.

I look horrible, she thought to herself. And this isn't like me at all.

The confrontation with Draco earlier on had somehow made her come to her senses. She felt useless for the first time in her entire life, and realized that she had wasted quite a lot of time. And this time, Hermione was determined to go back to her old self. The very same confident know-it-all, she thought and smiled to herself.

Hermione slept soundly for the first time in months that night.

The next day Hermione Apparated to work. Draco had taken the same long route in an attempt to 'accidentally bump into' Hermione again, to no avail. He cursed himself when he reached the office. He was late for work.

"Malfoy." Hermione addressed him coolly as he turned up panting. Draco cursed himself again. "Erm, Hermione-" he began. Hermione merely gave him a look. "Please give a valid reason for your lateness on your second day of work." She stated firmly.

Draco looked at her in surprise. Hermione was behaving so weirdly, he almost thought she had went back to being her old self. "I walked," he said, hoping that honesty would pay off. It did not.

"That is not a valid reason," Hermione snapped. "You took Apparating lessons for a use, you know," she continued. "I expect the report on The Alliance Seeking For Ban Against Exploding Snap to be on my table by ten thirty. And do not let this happen again."

Draco searched Hermione's face for a hint of smile. He never found it.

"Yes, Hermione,' he said glumly. It looked like Hermione had gone back to being her know-it-all self, with a newfound dislike for Draco.

Hermione turned sharply on her heel. Draco felt his heart plummet. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like this new old Hermione.

Hermione paused for a moment before turning back. "Malfoy?" she said.

Draco felt his hopes go high up. "Yes?" he said eagerly.

"In the future, you will address me as _Miss_ Granger." Hermione said coolly.

Draco walked slowly back to his table, feeling disappointed and slightly angry. He had nobody to blame but himself.

It was noon time. Hermione had barely glanced up from her work throughout the day so far. Everybody outside got up chattering excitedly, and most of them left in groups for lunch.

She yawned. And then stopped as she realized that Draco was the only one who had not left for lunch.

_Damn that Draco_, she thought angrily. In her heart, Hermione couldn't blame Draco. Even if he had told his father about Ron. Deep down in her heart Hermione actually yearned to be Draco's friend. She knew what he had been through and she felt something towards him. That something resembled pity, and – something else. She couldn't explain the feeling. But she had been determined to hate him. For Ron's sake.

Her eyes met Draco's eyes as he looked up quizzically from his work. In her heart there came a pang. She scowled to herself and quickly looked away. But there was no denying it. Her heart had definitely reacted. I knew this wasn't over, Hermione thought guiltily.

There was something between her and Draco, Hermione thought. And shaking off this thought, she went back to her work and tried to pretend that she wasn't interested to find out what that something was.

Draco Malfoy looked at the page he had been reading for the last five minutes. He had caught Hermione's eye earlier on but she had looked away quickly. Nevertheless, he had felt his heartbeat quicken.

He had no idea why he was so concerned about her but there was one thing he knew for sure. If ever Hermione forgave him about Ron, he hoped that she would never find out about the other thing, that would break his and Hermione's friendship (if it even existed) into pieces.

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**JE:** Michelle, don't you dare make a gay relationship! Ginny is supposed to be with Harry. 

Please review, and persuade this author that yaoi is not essential for a good fic.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five

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**

All in all, Draco was surprised that he didn't feel more contemptuous towards Hermione. In Hogwarts he had always disliked her and had called her "Mudblood" countless of times. She was dirty-blooded, self righteous in the most obnoxious way possible, and worst of all she always had something to counter Draco's remarks or spells. In Hogwarts he had hated every inch of her, even though he had to admit that the older she grew, the prettier she became as well.

Even after he had turned to the Light side, he had hated her. He hated her for being the know-it-all that she was, like as if she could never ever break down. But the war changed everything. After the war he had begun to see a side of Hermione that seemed human to him. That seemed normal. And it was what he liked about Hermione. He always had the theory that Hermione can never be normal, literally in terms of blood, or figuratively in terms of sanity.

Draco Apparated back to his house. It was a far cry from the Malfoy Manor, but then again, he never ever wanted to see the Manor again.

Draco finished showering and sat down on a chair.

_I wonder what Hermione is doing now_, he thought.

It was funny how Draco thought about Hermione practically twenty four hours a day, but never seemed to realized it. Somehow he had been used to it and taken it for granted. It was normal by now. He never stopped to consider the fact that any outsider might have mistaken him to be in love with Hermione, until now.

_He was not._ Draco wandered aimlessly to his room and put on his pajamas. Of course he was not. How could he be in love with Hermione? He thought and chortled to himself. "That is like me liking Crabbe or Goyle," he said out loud, firmly to himself.

But somehow, Hermione Granger turned up in his dreams that night.

"Ginny, you seem a lot better," Hermione said, surprised. She was having dinner with Ginny and Harry.

Ginny smiled at her. "Thanks," she said. "Harry helped me. He made me realize that I was just wasting my time and my youth here, mourning over Ron and Bill," she said cheerfully and put a spoonful of stew in her mouth. Harry smiled at her. Ginny smiled back.

Hermione put her spoon down. "Wait a minute," she said slowly. "You two – you two are together," she said finally.

Harry blushed. Hermione stared again. She hadn't seen Harry blush since the day he asked Cho out, years ago.

"Erm, yeah," Harry said. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione, don't look so surprised," she chided.

Hermione tried to smile. Seeing Harry and Ginny together somehow reminded her of Ron. He would have given anything to see them together. He had always been against Ginny's choice of boyfriends, all except for Harry. And although he didn't say anything, Hermione knew that he was as devastated as Harry the day Harry had broken up with Ginny.

Ginny seemed to read her mind. "Hermione, don't be upset," she said quietly. "Ron wouldn't have wanted you to mourn for him your entire life. He would have wanted you to move on," she said.

Hermione couldn't bring herself to say anything. She missed Ron so badly, the idea of her finding another love seemed incredulous.

"Hermione." Harry's voice bore into her thoughts. "Promise me that you won't mourn over Ron forever?" Harry said quietly.

Hermione swallowed. Then she reluctantly nodded. _Yeah, right. _She thought silently as Ginny scooped more stew for Harry. But Harry seemed satisfied with what Hermione knew was an empty promise. So she didn't say anything else.

Hermione groggily Apparated back to her house. She felt exhausted after a day of work and dinner. Without a single thought she quickly showered and fell back on her bed. She was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

"Hermione."

Hermione awoke and stared at the face in front of her. The face belonged to no other than Draco Malfoy. He smiled gently at her.

"Hermione," he began. Hermione got up and started running. She had no idea why but she didn't want to see Draco Malfoy. Her heartbeat increased rapidly. "Hermione!" Draco called out. His voice was getting further and further…

Suddenly, the dream changed. It changed into a single image – the image of Ron's dead mangled body. And Draco Malfoy was standing above Ron's body, smiling triumphantly…

Hermione screamed.

Hermione awoke, her heart beating wildly. It was a dream, she realized with relief. But the image of Ron's body and Draco Malfoy still remained, etched vividly in her mind.

Hermione walked slowly to the kitchen. It had been a few days since she had gone to the kitchen in the morning. She started to make two cups of tea.

The phone rang. Hermione bit her lip as she poured away the second cup of tea. It was as if she was stuck in some kind of loop. _Let go of Ron?_ She thought._ I can't even do a simple thing as that. _Hermione felt utterly disgusted with herself.

The phone continued ringing as Hermione dressed hurriedly for work. She drank the cup of tea and Apparated to work.

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**JE: **Well, she's nice enough to post all 5 chapters at one go so you don't have to wait.

So? Review! Because this will be the last of JE in this fic.


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